House of Mystery Meat
by TYandthedancer
Summary: What happens when Mara gets closer to Vera's secret and has Joy help her reveal the truth? What happens when Joy confronts Vera? How will Vera be punished for her actions? Joy haters will love this. Please Review
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

"Joy, can I speak to you in private for a moment?" says Mara, waiting anxiously to tell someone about her new discovery. She pulls Joy away from the rest of the students. "Look at this!" she exclaims as she shoves a stack of papers towards the confused girl.

Taking the papers and quickly skimming through them Joy says, "Wow Mara. This is impressive. What is it exactly?"

Sighing, "It's the story I was working on. The one about Vera."

"Haven't you gotten in enough trouble for that?"

"Yes, but now I have better evidence. I want you to help me show everyone who Vera really is," explains Mara. "Just read through the papers when you get a chance. Something definitely isn't right."

"Fine, I'll read it. This better be good," says a still unconvinced Joy.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Joy and Mara are quietly sitting in their room. Mara patiently waits for her friend to finish reading the various pieces of information about their so called "lovely" housemother. Joy finally finishes and says, "Oh my gosh Mara! I think you might actually be right about this!"

Mara, excited that someone believes her, asks, "So will you help me then?"

"Definitely, that lady's a whack job."

"I know right," replies Mara. "The rest of the school deserves to know about this."

"Forget the school, I'm telling the world who Vera Devenish really is," replies an extremely overconfident Joy.

Mara laughs. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves."

Joy shrugs her shoulders and laughs, but she is already planning Vera's downfall.

_**The next day**_

It's the middle of the school day, about 1 p.m. to be exact, and everyone from Anubis House is at school. That is everyone except for Joy. She decided she would skip French class so she could sneak back to the house and spy on Vera. Much to Joy's disappointment, Vera wasn't doing anything suspicious. She was just washing the dishes. She hid behind the couch anyway and kept watching.

Suddenly Joy hears footsteps and looks around to see Victor walking toward Vera. He starts saying something but Joy can't quite hear what it is. Something about a mask maybe? Joy watches more intently now but is nowhere near prepared for what she sees next. Victor leans in and kisses Vera on the forehead.

"Ewww," screams Joy accidentally. A startled Vera jumps and knocks a spoon into the already running garbage disposal. She immediately turns it off and removes the now extremely sharp spoon.

"Who's there?" asks Victor, demanding an answer.

"Oh, I forgot my textbook and I came back to get it," stutters Joy as she stands up.

"I see," says Victor as he glares suspiciously at the girl. "Very well," he says after a few moments, "You'd best be heading back to class now."

Shocked that Victor didn't flip out on her, Joy just stands there. Finally she turns around and slowly walks towards the door. Once she's sure no one's watching her, she quietly runs up the stairs and to her room. Locking the door behind her, she sits on her bed and thinks about what just happened. She's not sure what she should be more shocked by. This talk of a mask or the little kiss Victor gave her. Feeling like her brain is about to explode, Joy lies down and closes her eyes. She eventually falls asleep.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

When Joy woke up she looked at the clock, wondering how long she was out. She sees that it's only been an hour and breathes a sigh of relief. Then she hears noise from down the hall. "Vera darling," shouts Victor, "I'm going out for a little while." A few minutes pass and Joy hears the front door slam closed. Joy decides this is her chance to talk to Vera alone.

_It's now or never_, thinks Joy, _I'll probably never get another chance to do this._

Grabbing her folder of evidence, she walks to the door and hesitates briefly before turning the doorknob. When she gets downstairs she sees that Vera is now polishing the silverware. "Vera," says Joy, getting this over with before she backs down. "Can I ask you a few questions?"

"What are you still doing here?" asks Vera. "I thought you went back to school."

"I was feeling a bit sick so I went upstairs to lie down for a few minutes and I fell asleep. Now can I please ask you something?"

Vera's starting to grow impatient now. "What is it? Make it fast."

Taking a deep breath, Joy asks, "Everything Mara said about you was true wasn't it?"

"Why on earth would you think that?" replies Vera. "What has that girl been telling you?"

"Well, you see," says Joy, regaining some of her confidence, as she puts the folder down beside Vera, "She showed me this. It's proof….of everything."

Looking confused, Vera takes a moment to look through the papers. When she's finished she stands up and says, "These are all lies."

"I don't think so," replies Joy. "I think you'd better tell me who you really are or you could have a serious problem on your hands."

"I can fix that," whispers Vera, slowly reaching for the spoon that had been so conveniently sharpened by the garbage disposal.

"What…..?" asks a now scared Joy.

Without saying anything else Vera grips the spoon firmly in her hand and swiftly shoves it through Joy's neck. The girl dies instantly. Vera smiles and says to herself, "One less brat to deal with now."


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

After completing her dirty work, Vera realizes that she must now get rid of the evidence, in particularly, the body. She sits down at the table and ponders at how she shall rid herself of the body. Joy Mercer's body. After a while she glances over at the clock on the wall and notices that it's almost 4 o'clock. Deciding she better start making supper, she gets up and walks over to the stove. Then she remembers that she forgot to take the meat out of the freezer. She's supposed to be making beef stew.

She starts to curse mildly under her breath but then she has an idea. She'll just make a different kind of meat tonight. Something no one's ever eaten before. And if no one questions the origin of the meat, she'll have solved another major problem also.

Vera walks over to the girl lying motionless on the floor, picks her up, puts her on the counter, and begins cutting big chunks of meat away from the bone. Once she has started to get it cooking, she drags the remainder of the body out the back door and onto the compost pile. Then she lights the pile of garbage, which now includes Joy's lifeless body, on fire. Keeping a careful watch on the fire, she walks back to the house and continues to cook supper.

After a while, the fire dies down quite a bit and Vera can see that the body has fully disintegrated and is now no more than ashes. Just in time too. Soon all the students plus Victor begin arriving at the house. Most of the students go their separate ways to do their homework. Patricia, however, goes looking for her friend, Joy, because she hasn't seen her since that morning. This is when Vera realizes she might not be in the clear just yet.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Have you seen Joy?" Patricia asks Vera.

"Not since this morning," lies Vera. "Why? Is something wrong?"

Patricia is about to continue when she is interrupted by Alfie. "Is supper ready yet?"

"Yes," replies Vera, "It is. Would you do me a favor and please tell the others?" Alfie nods and walks away while Vera sets the table. One by one all the students, except Joy of course, make their way to the dining room for supper. They all dig in to the lovely stew that Vera has prepared.

After taking a few bites, Jerome turns toward the housemother. "What kind of meat is this? Beef?"

This startles Vera and she takes a moment to think before answering, "Yes dear, something of the sort." Although given this unusual, almost suspicious, response, Jerome shrugs and continues eating.

When supper's over, the dining room clears out and Patricia decides to approach Vera again. "Are you sure you haven't seen Joy?"

"I'm quite sure," replies Vera without batting an eye. "Now why don't you go do your homework? I heard there's a big essay due next week. Wouldn't want to get a bad mark now would we?"

"I guess not." Wanting to interrogate further but not knowing what exactly to ask, Patricia decides to leave Vera alone. But just as she's about to walk away Vera says something.

"Lies," she says. "It's all lies." This sends a chill down Patricia's spine because although the words came out of Vera's mouth, it most certainly wasn't her voice. Adding to the fear was the fact that the voice seemed angry, very angry.

"Excuse me," says the frightened girl. "What was that you said?"

"She has murdered the Chosen One." Again the words come out of Vera's mouth but it isn't her voice. It does sound kind of familiar to Patricia though. She's definitely heard it before. That's when she notices something else that's weird. It's the woman's eyes. They've turned completely black and if she looks closely she can almost see a face in them. She recognizes this for sure.

"Senkhara," whispers Patricia. Then a bit louder she says, "What do you mean Senkhara? The Chosen One? What's happened to Nina?"

"I'm sorry dear. Did you say something?" Vera's back.

Without saying a word Patricia turns and bolts up the stairs. She barges into Nina and Amber's room and sees Nina sitting on her bed reading a book. Breathing a huge sigh of relief she embraces her friend, taking the girl by surprise.

"You okay?" asks Nina, looking perplexed.

"Not really," replies a still shaken-up Patricia. "I'm just glad you are."

"Why wouldn't I be okay?"

"Just something someone said."

"Who?"

"Senkhara." It's barely audible but Nina understands immediately.

"You saw Senkhara?" asks a now worried Nina. "What happened? What'd she say?"

Patricia tells Nina the story starting from when Joy disappeared and ending with what Senkhara said. When she's finished Nina asks, "She told you that the Chosen One had been murdered?"

"Yes. At least that's what I thought she said. I think she was talking about Vera."

"Vera murdered the Chosen One?"

"That's what she said but you're still here. You are still here right?" Patricia reaches out and pokes Nina in the arm. She feels Nina's skin beneath her fingers. She's definitely alive. "Okay. Just making sure."

Nina giggles. "As far as I know I haven't been murdered."

"Well that's a good thing," says Fabian as he walks into the room. "What's going on in here? Girl talk or something?"

"We need to have a Sibuna meeting," says Nina. "Tonight at Sibuna clearing."


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Once everyone has arrived at the sacred meeting place of Sibuna, Patricia tells them the whole story of her run in with Senkhara.

"But you're not dead," Alfie says to Nina.

Nina's about to say something but is interrupted by Patricia. "That's my point doofus."

"Then what was Senkhara talking about?" asks Alfie very defensively.

Fabian has an idea. "Do you think it was a metaphor or something?"

"Possibly," says Patricia, "But we still don't know what it means."

"It could mean that Vera wants the mask too and she'll do anything to get it. Maybe even kill Nina. Maybe ghosty was trying to warn us because she wants us to get the mask before Vera." Upon hearing this the other members of Sibuna gasp, not because of the fact that this might be true but because of who said it.

"Oh my gosh Amber!" exclaims Fabian. "You might actually be right."

They continue talking about this message from Senkhara for almost an hour before they decide they should get back to the house before Victor has a spasm. When they get there Patricia immediately looks for Joy again and, when she can't find her, starts panicking. Again she confronts Vera who now says that Joy is taking care of her uncle as he has fallen ill. Patricia doesn't completely buy this but doesn't question it either.

Instead, she quietly walks to her room and falls asleep. It isn't a peaceful sleep though. It's haunted by dreams. One in particular, involves Senkhara:

_Patricia finds herself alone, surrounded by nothingness. Then she's met by Senkhara and the ghost starts screaming things at her. _

_ "She has murdered the Chosen One."_

_ "Yeah I got that," yells Patricia. Even frightened as she is she still has an attitude. "What does that mean?"_

_ "I believe it's quite self explanatory. It means that your friend is dead and can no longer fulfill her duties." _

_ "But Nina's still alive."_

_ "Not her." Senkhara's image is fading but her voice is still clear. "The other one." _

_ That last part echoes over and over again in Patricia's ears as she begins to understand what it means. She whispers one final word, "Joy," before she wakes up. _

Patricia wakes up from the nightmare, out of breath. It takes everything she has to keep from screaming but she manages to keep quiet. She looks at the clock. Midnight. Not wanting to wake the others up in the middle of the night she decides to wait until morning to tell them about the dream.

Patricia manages to fall asleep again and when she awakens it's eight o'clock. She hurries down stairs to see if the others are awake yet. They are. "Guys, we have to talk."

The Sibunas all gather in Nina and Amber's room, curious looks on their faces.

"Amber was wrong," says Patricia.

"What else is new?" Alfie mutters under his breath.

This aggravates Patricia. "I'm serious Alfie." Now she looks close to tears. "It wasn't a metaphor."


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"Metaphor?" questions Fabian. "You mean that thing Senkhara said? About Vera killing Nina?" The last part was barely a whisper and as he said it he moved closer to Nina.

"Yes, and the thing about the Chosen One is true, but this Chosen One isn't Nina," explains Patricia.

This prompts a series of gasps followed by various, simultaneously spoken questions:

"What?"

"How do you know?"

"Who is it?"

"Who died?"

"So Vera _is_ a murderer?"

They all look to Patricia for answers. "I had a dream, a nightmare, rather."

She's interrupted by Nina, "And Senkhara was there?" Patricia nods. "And she explained to you what she meant?"

"Yes," snaps an aggravated Patricia. "Now will you let me just tell the story." Nina puts her hands up in a defensive yet apologetic way. Patricia continues, "Like before, she told me that the Chosen One was dead and that Vera was the one that killed her. I asked her what that meant and she told me that it meant exactly what it sounded like, that 'my friend' was dead. But I was confused so I told her that Nina was still alive. She said she didn't mean Nina, she meant…" The girl begins to cry and can't seem to force herself to say the name. Perhaps this is because she doesn't want to believe that her best friend is gone.

"Who, Patricia?" Nina asks as she embraces her friend in a comforting hug.

She's barely able to say it. "Joy."

This leaves everyone speechless. Well, almost everyone. Alfie, it seems, will never _ever _be at a loss for words. "I thought Nina was the Chosen One."

"Maybe there's more than one," states Fabian. "There were many gods in Egyptian mythology. It wouldn't surprise me if they were all reincarnated into different people."

"Plus," adds Nina, "Joy was Victor's first guess. Maybe he wasn't entirely wrong."

"So, which god is, or rather was, Joy?" asks Amber.

"Maybe you should ask Senkhara. She seems to have all the answers."

"Not funny, Alfie," yells Patricia. "This is serious."

"But that might work," says Nina. "I'll try talking to her later."

This earns her a worried look from Fabian. "Just be careful, okay."


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"_Your other half is gone, Chosen One," says Senkhara, making herself visible in Nina's dream._

_ "Other half?" asks Nina. "Joy?"_

_ "Yes, I'm afraid you won't be able to fulfill your duties without her. She was very vital the process."_

_ "Process? What process?"_

_ "The process of connecting the world of the living and the world of the gods. You see, it pains me and many others to be trapped as mere ghosts, going unseen to most. With _her_ we could have once again walked among the living."_

_ "How exactly was Joy supposed to do this?" asks Nina._

_ "She was the descendant of Isis, the sole link between our two worlds." With that Senkhara disappeared into the air._

Nina wakes up just as Patricia comes bursting through the door. "I had the weirdest dream," she says.

"Really?" So did I," says Nina. "What was yours about?"

"There was this ghostly lady and she was just standing over me, smiling. I kept asking her questions but she didn't say anything. Then, right before she left, she put her hand on my arm. When she let lifted it away my arm was glowing. When the glowing died down a little bit I could make out a name written in cursive. Then, after she was gone, I heard, 'It's your turn now. Go, finish the task'. When I woke up the name was still there." Patricia rolled up her shirt sleeve revealing four neatly written letters that spelled out 'Isis'.

"Oh my gosh," Nina whispers.

"What is it?" asks Patricia.

"Isis. That's the name of the god that Joy was a descendant of."

"Why would she be in my dream though? And why would I have to 'finish the task'. What task?"

"I- I think you might be like taking Joy's place as Isis or something."

"That can happen?"

"At this point," says Nina, taking a deep breath, "I wouldn't doubt it."

"I just don't understand. Why me?"

"Maybe it's because you were closest to her."

"Yes, that could have something to do with it but I think there's more."

"Senkhara!" the girls shout, startled by the sudden appearance of the ghost.

"You see her too now?" Nina asks, looking at Patricia who nods in response.

"Did you by any chance eat that stew Vera prepared the other day?" asks Senkhara.

"Um yeah, why?" asks Patricia.

"Interesting. Are you aware of what was in it?"

"Uh, beef?"

"Not beef, but the flesh of your departed friend." With that Senkhara was gone.

Nina and Patricia look at each other in horror. "We-," says Patricia shakily, "We ate Joy." Then both girls burst into tears.


End file.
